7:38am Wednesday 27th January 2010
By Lewis Cowen
Wiltshire Council workers have filled 5,000 potholes around the county in the last ten days.
The rash of holes in the road was the legacy of the recent spell of ice and snow, when the same workers manned gritters and snowploughs to keep county roads open.
Ian Applesford from Burbage led a small team tackling a huge area of collapsed asphalt on the minor road linking the A342 at Lydeway to the B3098 to Urchfont.
He said: “This is the first asphalting we have been able to do since Christmas. While the bad weather was on we were busy gritting but now we are back to the old routine.
“There are some nasty potholes around. This one started when the entrance to a culvert broke down. The frost got in and has made the hole even bigger.
“We get some feedback from the public. A lot of people are pleased to see us busy but you always get those complaining.”
Graeme Hay is the senior highways officer in charge of roads and he was delighted at the workload his staff have managed.
He said: “On average they have filled 500 potholes every day for the last two weeks. They are permanent fills, unless there is an area that needs particular attention and then it is made safe until it can be attended to.
“We have 60 to 68 people working on the problem at the moment, either singly or in gangs of two or three. Some £400,000 has been set aside for a programme of major repairs on road surfaces that need particular attention and a list of these will come in over the next two or three days.
“We hope to carry out the work during February and March, but it is a long way before the end of winter and we cannot rule out more work.”
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